SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – No. 18 Augustana University men's basketball (2-0) returns to action on Monday, Nov. 14 hosting Valley City State University (4-4) at 7 p.m. at the Elmen Center. The Vikings will then head to Maryville, Missouri on Thursday night to take on No. 6 Northwest Missouri State University (2-0) at 7 p.m.
Augustana and Northwest Missouri State will meet for the eighth time all-time, including the fourth time in the past two seasons.
Fans on Monday night will receive free admission to the Valley City State game with the donation of two canned goods that will benefit Feeding South Dakota.
LAST TIME OUT
• Augustana opened the regular season this past weekend with a pair of games in Oklahoma
• The Vikings opened the season on Friday with an 81-57 win over Southwestern Oklahoma State University
• Augustana then bounced back with a game at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday and picked up a 67-61 win over East Central University
• With the win on Saturday, Augustana improved to 48-47 all-time in season openers
• Augustana took a 34-point halftime lead against SWOSU and led by as much as 46 cruising to a win in the season opener
• Eleven different players scored for the Vikings in the opener, led by
Steven Schaefer who finished with 13 points
•
Jordan Spencer finished with 11 points, seven rebounds and six assists in the opener
• The Vikings shot 60 percent in the first half against SWOSU and finished the game shooting 46.8 percent from the field
• Augustana fought through some adversity on Saturday for its second straight win
• The Vikings trailed 31-29 at the half but hit seven 3-pointers in the second half to pick up a 67-61 win over East Central
• For the second straight night,
Steven Schaefer scored a career-high for the Vikings. He hit five 3-pointers and led the Vikings with 16 points
•
Jordan Spencer added a season-high 19 points, four assists and three rebounds for the Vikings
Augustana shot 46.2 percent from the field and knocked down 12 3-pointers in the win
SERIES HISTORY
• Monday night's game will be the seventh all-time meeting between Augustana and Valley City State
• Augustana is 6-0 all-time against Valley City State
• Augustana and Valley City State first met in 1940 last met on Nov. 26, 2014
• Augustana defeated VCSU 86-61 the last time the two teams met
• Augustana and Northwest Missouri State will continue their friendly rivalry on Thursday
• Thursday night's game will be the fourth meeting between the two teams over the last two seasons
• The last three games between the two teams have been decided by two or less points
• Augustana and Northwest Missouri State met in the semifinals of the NCAA Central Region Tournament on March 15, 2015 and the Bearcats knocked the Vikings out of the playoffs with a 66-65 win at the Sanford Pentagon
• The two teams then played a non-conference game early last season and
Daniel Jansen hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to lift Augustana to a 79-77 win on Nov. 19
• Fans were treated to another match-up between the two teams in the 2016 NCAA Central Region Championship game last season and once again it came down to the wire
•
Jordan Spencer hit a pair of free throws with 4.6 seconds remaining in the game giving Augustana an 80-78 lead and
John Warren came up with a huge steal on Northwest Missouri State's inbound pass to seal the victory and send Augustana to the Elite Eight for the first time in program history
• Augustana is 4-3 all-time against Northwest Missouri State
BREAKOUT WEEKEND FROM SCHAEFER
• Junior guard
Steven Schaefer posted a career-high in points in back-to-back games to open the season last weekend
• Schaefer led the Vikings with 13 points off the bench in the season-opening win over Southwestern Oklahoma State
• Schaefer knocked down 5 of 12 field goal attempts in the opener, including 3 of 7 from 3-point range
• He followed that up with an even bigger day on Saturday, finishing 6 of 7 from the field hitting a career-high four 3-pointers for a new career-high 16 points
• The double-digit outputs mark the first of his career for the Vikings
DISHING THE ROCK
• Junior point guard
Jordan Spencer is averaging 6.5 assists per game in his career at Augustana
• Spencer ended the 2015-16 season as the career active leader in NCAA Division II
• At the end of last season, his career average of 6.56 assists per game was the seventh-best in all of NCAA basketball across all three divisions
• He owns a career assist-to-turnover ratio of 3.40 which was the best amongst all active NCAA?Division II?players at the end of the 2015-16 and the third-most in NCAA basketball behind Monte Morris (4.48 ) of Iowa State and James Robinson (3.45)?of Pittsburgh
• Spencer dished out a single season record 244 assists in 2015-16 averaging 6.3 per game
• Spencer dished out six assists in the season opener against Southwestern Oklahoma State
• In his career, Spencer has had five or more assists in 55 of 70 career games played
• He has dished out 10 or more assists in a game eight times in his career, including six last season
• Spencer dished out five or more assists in 27 straight games from Jan. 24, 2015 to Jan. 3 of 2016
TRIPLE-DOUBLE WATCH
•
Jordan Spencer threatened a triple-double in just 25 minutes in the season opener against Southwestern Oklahoma State on Saturday
• Spencer finished the night with 11 points, seven rebounds and six assists on the night
• He had 11 points, six rebounds and five assists in the first half alone against the Bulldogs
• Spencer has two career double-doubles and is averaging 10.4 points, 3.9 rebounds and 6.5 assists per game in his career
VETERAN BACKCOURT
• Senior guard
Adam Beyer has played in 102 career games for the Vikings
• Beyer has started 90 career games, including 68 over the last three seasons
• Beyer is averaging 7.9 points, 3.7 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game in his career
• Beyer was lights out from all over last season finishing the year shooting 51.5 percent from the field
• Beyer was a 51.6 percent shooter from 3-point range in 2015-16 knocking down 48 shots from behind the arc
• Beyer also shot 79.5 percent from the free throw line in 2015-16
• Junior
Jordan Spencer has played in 70 career games for the Vikings, making 69 career starts
• Spencer is averaging 10.4 points and 3.9 rebounds per game to go along with 6.5 assists per contest
• Spencer has scored in double-digits 43 times in his career
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